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4/7/2008 Albert Pujols
The Statline Report — ... of history while they are still active. It is even harder when they are still putting up huge numbers. So easily we get caught up in the excellence of some of our current stars that we lose sight of their performance relative to history. Albert Pujols is the only active player in today’s game that I am willing to put in the same category with other baseball legends. His level of offensive excellence during this decade can match up with anyone not named Ruth, Bonds, or Jimmie Foxx. This accolade might be a little premature, as Pujols has yet ...

55 Reasons to Hate The Giants
True Blue LA — ... .  My God, what an awful movie.  The 1996 film portrayed a rather prickly superstar who signed as a free agent with the Giants.  Where did they ever get that idea?  And the final parts of the movie unrealistically revolved around a baseball game played in San Francisco in near monsoon conditions. ...

Class is Over for the “Little Professor”
Gear Up For Sports — ... & Bonds, Barry), but Dom was able to make his own mark on the baseball landscape. The San Francisco native, who earned the nickname “Little Professor” from his bespectacled 5-foot, 9-inch frame, played with the Red Sox from 1940 to 1953 and lost three years (1943-1945) of his career as he served in the United States Navy during World War II. During that time, he made seven All-Star teams, including four straight from 1949 to 1952. Dom also finished as high as ninth in MVP voting, which came in 1946, his first year back after the war. ...

Baseball’s most exciting play
The Hardball Times — ... Murray was the second one to make that claim. Yup, that's right: Harmon Killebrew , believe it or not, hit an inside-the-park home run . I don't know much about the play, but I have to assume the outfielder misplayed that ball as badly as humanly possible. Only five players ever hit more total longballs than Frank Robinson, and that quintet combined for 25 inside the park home runs. Aaron had his one, Sammy Sosa had two, Ken Griffey Jr. and Barry Bonds both had three, Willie Mays had six, and Babe Ruth , believe it or ...

If Rick Telander can wonder, can I?
It's About The Money - A New York Yankees Blog — ... Playing at age 36/37, Raul Ibanez is having a career year. Know who else had a career year at the same age? That Barry dude. Yep, 2001. Remember that year? Barry turned 37 mid-season and hit 73 home runs that year (after a previous career high of 49 the year before). Phillies fans, before you sharpen your spears, please just finish reading and allow yourself to consider this. ...

Chasing Baseball's Milestones: How Tough Is Winning 300 Games?
Baseball Analysts — ... and Bonds follow, and there's a large dropoff after that. The list is devoid of the plethora of modern sluggers who have recently joined the ranks, although ...

When the Bond Market Meets a Baseball Prospect
BBTF's Baseball Primer Newsblog — ... Before the Nationals shell out any money, they’ll have to do what any seasoned asset manager does: build in a discount based on the risk of default. In the past two decades, 25% of baseball’s top pitching prospects never panned out—which makes these skinny kids about as risky as a below-investment-grade Triple C bond. A bond like that, over the last year, would offer a yield of about 29%. No, not the Bonds market . That’s ...

Cubs clinchers: 1998
waxpaperbeercup — ... PR 0 0 0 0 0 0 .285 .686 0 0 B Bonds LF 4 0 0 1 0 1 .303 1.047 20 14 3 0 SF ...

…. More more more
Only Baseball Matters — ... Instead, they fire their hitting coach the day he buries his father, and hire one of the worst hitters in baseball history to coach their anemic offense. Sure, maybe it’s true that you can’t teach hitters knowledge of the strike zone, to be selective, as Michael Lewis suggested in Moneyball. But, if you can, it’s hard to argue that a guy who walked a total of 42 times in seven seasons is the guy to teach it. Or maybe, just maybe, you reach out to an icon, who knows just a little bit about hitting.

Book excerpt: “Evaluating Baseball’s Managers, 1876-2008”—Dusty Baker
The Hardball Times — ... . People skills were Baker’s strong point, and positive feelings were the trademark of his Bay Area tenure. In 10 years in San Francisco, he never had a public dispute with a player. The team handled those matters in-house. Jeff Kent and Barry Bonds publicly feuded with one another, but neither ever dragged Baker into it, and he did not let it disrupt the rest of the squad. Baker’s experience with the Cubs was very different, as the Bay Area’s genius became the Windy City’s idiot. After a strong start, nearly taking the Cubs to the World Series in 2003, things devolved ...